Radio and TV station executives and industry groups are seeking to get chips inserted into mobile handsets to extend the reach of their respective programming. And they may do it with federal help as a public safety issue.

Emmis Communications President and CEO Jeff Smulyan, speaking at WMS ’09 in Washington D.C. said radio chips beat cell towers in cases of emergency communications, and can be put into every mobile phone for 50 cents or less – a message he had just been pushing in a day of lobbying on Capitol Hill. The entire installation would be just $1-2 per phone.

“Cell systems jam,” said Smulyan. “They’re only geared to take calls from 32 percent of the population, or something like that. But in an emergency, that goes up to 90 percent.”

The radio chip would have natural business extensions for the radio industry, in addition to providing emergency communications, added Smulyan. “It would change the perception of the (radio) industry as a dinosaur.” And it would be in the public interest because it would defend radio’s localism. “If you hear a song on the radio (over your phone), you could download it,” he said. “That’s just one application we’re talking about.

Radio over a mobile phone would also be more appealing than streaming over the Internet because “streaming is very expensive. You have to serve the whole world. But with a chip, you would only serve your local marketplace.”

Meanwhile, the TV folks are also itching to get a chipset onto mobile devices. Anne Schelle, Executive Director of The Open Mobile Video Coalition, said that Digital TV viewing is measurable, has unlimited capacity, and costs less than a penny an hour for each viewer. It stands in start contrast to dedicated Mobile video channels, which can only handle 25 streams at a time, and have network costs of $4.00 an hour.

Jerry Fritz Senior Vice President, Allbritton Communications,said broadcasters have the right plan, but the logistics will be a challenge. “You have to have five things go together,” he said. “You have to develop the measurement of mobile use. You have to have the manufacturer install the chip. And the broadcaster has to acquire the bandwidth.”

The use of online video, social networking and mobile services have “exploded”in the past year, and Internet radio  is a big contender to join this group in 2009, according to Arbitron Executive VP of Sales Pierre Bouvard, who was speaking at BIA’s Winning Media Strategies conference in Washington D.C.

Online video popped like the Internet popped in 1999,” says Bouvard, noting that it went from 18 percent usage to 27 percent, or 69 million.  A second pop is the devotion that consumers have for their cellphone. And a third pop will be with Internet radio this year.

The latter will see usage by 17 percent of Americans, or 42 million. “They aren’t kids. They are 25-54 (years old) and 45-54 is the biggest age sell. “It looks like the big  radio demographic,”  says Bouvard. “These folks are more likely  to be full-time employed, have upper income salaries, and college degrees. The sweet spot is people at work,” which has become an extension of morning drive time. Bouvard adds that people listen to Internet radio for variety and control; few commercials; and its clear signal.

Social networking is also taking off. “Kids were there last year, with over half of 12-24 year olds using one of the services. But look (this year) at 55-64 (year olds).It comes on like a freight train.” Still, Bouvard says it is important to keep in mind the high percentage of people who are not using social services. While Facebook has gone from eight percent to eighteen percent, “that means that 82 percent don’t use it,” he says.

One service that has had more mixed results is video on demand, which has  only “moderate” use. Thirty nine percent tried it once, 18 percent used it “last month, and one percent last week,” says Bouvard. It compares poorly compared to the dynamic interest and passion that consumers have for cell phone services, such as getting music on cell phones, maps and video. These results lead Bouvard to conclude that major distributors such as Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and Cox should focus more on mobile applications and less on interactive television services.

It’s not enough to just have a web or mobile presence, it really is about having an overall strategy and how you execute on that strategy that determines “success” versus “also ran.”

We’ve got a great line-up of speakers at Winning Media Strategies 2009, May 20-22 in Washington, DC that will provide insights, information and case studies to help you develop your strategies and plan your integrated execution when you get back to work!

Rick Ducey
Chief Strategy Officer
BIA Advisory Services